Menu

Tag Archive | Shopping

So originally this post was intended to be my first “Pricy v. Practical Challenge,” but the two products I chose ended up being pretty different. I was looking for a defining pomade, the perfect mix of wax, creme, and gel. The first, Got2B “playful” creme pomade ended up being all creme. The second, Rusk beingwarped, was much more like a wax. Both promised to shine and define. Only one delivered on both promises.

Winner: Wax!!! The creme gave nice shine and smoothing. However, I just got a new cut; as a midway solution to “growing out my hair boredom” I had them add a little more angle to the bob, a little more layering, and shorter funkier bangs. So I was really looking to piece out the layers to give my new look some spunk. The creme just didn’t do it for that purpose. The wax did great, giving me a sleek, yet not boring look. Also, it wasn’t too heavy so my hair get get gunky or crusty.

P.S. In the end they tied on price – about $4 each – the Rusk you can get a tiny travel size at CVS, the got2be was full size. However, I felt I had to use more of the got2be to get effect.

I just can’t help myself. Who doesn’t want the chance to win free stuff? This one is for Hair Flairs.A friend of mine recently told me about something similar – Color Bugs – but they are from Australia (Kevin Murphy) and only stylists can get them. These are basically a fun way to do temporary color, if you are not ready to fully commit to the dip dyed ends and color streak trends.

I am only a quarter Irish, but St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. I had a great holiday weekend, in a small town known as the Irish capital of Nebraska. After a weekend of bad habits (unhealthy food – vegetarians don’t fare well in small towns, falling asleep in makeup, too much alcohol, not enough water, no formal workouts, etc.) I looked in the mirror and saw more imperfections emerging than I’d seen in months. So, what a great time to turn to a couple old faves and try out some some new skin products.

First, I washed my face with Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Acne Facewash. I have been pretty satisfied with this face wash. I love anything with scrubbing beads in it and I love anything that keeps acne at bay, so this is a good combo of both.

Next, and I was so looking forward to this, I did the Boscia Luminizing Black Mask. Love this mask. My pores feel so tight and clean after using it. The only suggestion I would make is be sure to apply it thickly in all spots because if you have any spots that are too thin they will be more difficult to peel. Some people prefer wash off masks but I am a superfan of this peel off version. I recently got a sample of the black moisturizer – I’m excited to try and you’ll hear about it when I do 🙂

On to the new products . . .not my first date with Philosophy, so I came in a little biased. So far I had not tried on a product that I didn’t like. This one didn’t disappoint either. I purchased the Dark Spot Correcting Kit because I find the older get, the slower my skin bounces back from blackheads, whiteheads, sunburns, etc. You pour the liquid over the pads, which is nice if they dry out it’s your own fault for not sealing the cap tight enough 🙂 The kit cost about $80 for 30 days worth. They suggest doing it every night, but I’ll probably go with once or twice a week to save money. You move the pad over your face and heads. It’s odd because it felt moisturizing and stimulating at the same time. It brought a fresh rosiness to my face, so I knew it was stimulating circulation. But the oil felt soft and soothing. Then you add the brightening cream which, and I don’t know why this was shocking to me, comes out tan. Obviously, you can’t evaluate the full result after one use, but I will continue using and give an update in a few weeks.

Finally, as a result of my CVS addiction, I got a new moisturizer, Nuance AM/PM Anti-Aging Super Cream. Nuance is Salma Hayek’s line, carried exclusively by CVS (as far as I know.) I had tried a conditioner in this line, and it was fine, but didn’t really wow me. The moisturizer I did really like though. It has a nice citrusy scent, and it was heavy enough for dry skin, but light enough for daytime. I could tell it had antiaging ingredients because I could feel a little bit of a lift after using it. It cost about $20, which at first I thought might not be worth it. But then I rethought how little it took it to cover my whole face, and therefore how long the jar will last.

I just wanted to reiterate my open honesty in this blog. I try my best to express the good and the bad and my explanations for why, to truly give you a useful and well rounded review. Not to be mean, but some people are impressed by everything, and it’s very difficult to see differentiation between awful and awesome. If took that approach, it would not help my readers at all. Sooooooo . . .in that light, I thought I’d let you know about a couple of products I was completely unimpressed with.

The first, Matrix Amplify Full Body Texturizing Spray, prompted me to write this post when I realized it had been taking up space in my medicine cabinet forever because I am too cheap not to use something for which I paid good money (is there bad money, really?) On that note, there will be an upcoming blog on uses for products you don’t like, have too much of, etc.

I just feel like this does little to nothing for me. It might be because I have so much hair. Someone with very fine hair could probably experience a different result. I bought this on a buy two, get one free Matrix deal at Ulta. I love their Sleek and color care lines, so I thought I’d give the amplify a shot – fail.

The second, Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray, I found to be a huge disappointment. I had read so many positive reviews about this being the perfect product for beachy waves and I found it to just add mediocre texture and not hold very long or well. Maybe my hair is not long enough to hold the wave with this type of product, but at $25, I felt like it was money poorly spent.